Managing Meanings of Embodied Experiences Theory: Toward a Discursive Understanding of Becoming Healthier

We advance a new theoretical approach for interpreting health communication from an embodied, intersubjective perspective. We propose individuals experience the world as bodied beings and must make sense of their embodied experiences by managing meanings of who they are in the world (being), the actions they perform (doing), and who they want to become (directed becoming). We call this theory managing meanings of embodied experiences (MMEE). Guided by the philosophies of phenomenology, pragmatism, and feminism, we provide a three-fold framework for exploring individuals' management of health meanings during interactions with others in society. The first layer-being-demonstrates a mutually constituting, intersubjective presence with others, whereby we attend to our own and another's embodied expressions accomplished communicatively. The second layer-doing-appreciates experiences directed by personal and social values both perceived and conceived during the unfolding of coordinated communicative events. The third layer-directed becoming-highlights our ability to mindfully direct changes to our identity and actions through critical reflection; it is the transformative potential of our reflective synthesis of being and doing.